Work in Progress
by TornadoSoup
Summary: Set in university. Link is a music student with a creative block, and he can't help getting even more distracted as one of the leads in the drama club he plays for takes a fancy to him. He would just brush it off, except they might have accidentally slept together the other night. Chaos ensues. (GhiraLink, smidgen of ZelImpa, lots of SS cameos & might get mature in later chapters)
1. Chapter 1

"You're breaking up with me?"

It was a chilly morning in late winter. The faded, whitewashed sunlight flickered down through the windows of the cafe, casting halos onto the heads of two young blondes, sat opposite each other in one of the booths.

The girl, golden hair falling into her eyes as she concentrated far too hard on the steam coming off her tea, gave a small nod.

"I know it's awful, but I feel like school's starting to bear down on both of us. There's just too much pressure with a relationship on top of all of that," She let her sky blue eyes flicker up to assess the boy's face. He stared blankly into his coffee, his lips subtly twisting to fight back a frown. The girl reached for his hand.

"Please understand, Link. I still really care about you," she said, and paused to find the right words. "Obviously I still want to be friends, as well."

Link breathed in and blinked, before looking up at her, finally revealing his dark blue eyes, and offering a small smile. "Of course, Zel. This can't change fourteen years."

Zelda smiled back in relief and squeezed his hand. She was glad he still kept track of how long they'd been friends, though sometimes she wondered if that length of time had been what made them get together in the first place. She remembered expressing her worry of them growing apart when leaving for university, and although she had thought that Link choosing to go to the same university as her and asking her out was an incredibly romantic gesture at the time, she thought now that it could have just been the way of them both holding onto each other.

Still, Link looked pretty upset right now, so maybe he _did_ have genuine feelings for her. Zelda watched his subtle way of doing things, how he rubbed the thumb of his free hand anxiously against his palm, how his tense jaw was almost undetectable, and she hoped that he wouldn't bottle his feelings up.

Zelda hugged him goodbye outside the cafe, before walking away and not looking back. Link's gaze followed her until she rounded the corner, and then he let his heart sink and his body deflate in defeat.

.

"Hi, Link!" Fledge, one of Link's housemates, greeted as the blond slinked into the kitchen.

"Hey," Link said, half heartedly sounding cheery as he headed straight for the fridge. To his luck, he noted sarcastically, there was one bottle of Lon Lon cider left. He pulled out the bottle and slammed the fridge shut, pulling himself up to sit on the kitchen counter. Fledge eyed him warily.

"I'll buy more later," he said, and opened the bottle with his teeth. Fledge cringed.

"What's wrong?" He asked, and Link wondered whether to share or not. It wasn't like this was a big deal. Breakups happened all the time, right?

"Zelda dumped me." He said, laughing lightly to try and dismiss the fact.

"Oh, Link." Fledge said, voice full of despair. "That's rough."

"S'alright, I'm still alive." Link took another swig from his bottle, and noticed it was already half empty. "I'm gonna get more alcohol, do you want anything?"

Fledge got up from his seat at the kitchen table, open textbook forgotten behind him. "I'll come with you."

Link had insisted he was fine, but Fledge had insisted he wasn't, so they ended up walking to the store together in near silence. It was awkward, and almost a little suffocating, but Link could still appreciate the gesture. He made a note to repay him, somehow.

"You know, if you want to take your mind off it, there's an open house party on Castor Road tonight?" Fledge tried as they stood at the checkout, filling plastic bags with food.

"Really Fledge, I'm fine," Link laughed, carefully setting a bottle of vodka down by an assortment of chocolate bars.

.

" _Really_ , Fledge, we were _fine_." Link said several hours later. Fledge was perched on his bed, head on his chin, nodding sympathetically every so often to his friend's ramblings. Link, in turn, was sprawled on the floor, cheeks dusted pink and hair falling into his eyes. He took a swig of lemonade, already having given up on trying to drink vodka after two mouthfuls.

"We were always so good together before we even started dating," he said, pulling his foot towards him and picking absentmindedly at his toes. Fledge grimaced. He'd been with Link all day, and although he wanted his friend to feel supported, he wasn't sure how much more energy he had to spare.

"Maybe that's because you were just better as friends?" Fledge supplied. Link looked ready to dismiss him and continue ranting, but then something in his head seemed to click.

"You could be right, Fledge."

"I - I could?"

"Yeah... That helps. Thank you," Link said, and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Fledge called as he left his room, and Link stopped to look at him over his shoulder.

"Just to the kitchen, do you want anything?"

Fledge jumped up. "Or, or," he said, trying to sound excited through his exhaustion, "this party will have just started. We could go there instead," he suggested.

Link paused, then smiled apologetically. "You don't have to go if you'd rather stay here. I could go by myself," he suggested, and Fledge tried not to look too relieved.

"Thanks," he said, sitting back down.

"It might be a good idea for me to make new friends as well," Link said, holding onto Fledge's door and swinging it. "since me and Zelda started university as a couple, we both mostly focused on each other."

Fledge smiled encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll meet lots of cool people, Link. Have a good time."

"Thanks," Link said, and left his friend in peace. Fledge let himself fall backwards into his bed.

.

The party wasn't hard to find, as it was nearby anyway and Link could hear it from nearly two blocks away. There were clusters of people around and inside the house, all in different dress and levels of inebriation, to Link's relief. He'd never been to an open house party before and wasn't sure how to arrive.

After half an hour of wandering, attempting to talk to people and having various drinks spilled on him, he was starting to think that this party wasn't his scene. The music was too loud, relied too much on the bass; the people were equally as loud and too busy _trying_ to be loud to talk to. Link hadn't ever been great at small talk, or drinking, so he was just about ready to go when someone grabbed his hand.

"Link! Long time, no see!" The person laughed, and pulled him over to a (slightly) quieter corner. Link looked over the people there, most of which he didn't recognise, but the guy who had pulled him over and the girl he was slinging his arm around seemed very familiar.

"Pipit, Karane!" Link exclaimed, smiling. "I haven't seen you guys since high school, how are you-?"

Pipit and Karane grinned at each other, and both held up a hand to display five pointed fingers each.

"We are ten out of ten!" They said, twiddling their fingers so that their rings glittered in the lowlight. Link's eyes widened.

"You're _engaged_?"

The couple nodded, leaning into each other. Link couldn't help but laugh. Last time he'd seen them, they'd been too afraid to even tell each other about their feelings, and it was the most exciting story in school. That was only two years ago.

"We heard you and Zelda finally got together as well!" Pipit said, nudging Link and winking. Link grimaced.

"Actually, we just broke up today."

"Oh Link, that's terrible!" Karane said, and moved forward to hug him. "You need a drink. I'll be right back!"

Link couldn't say anything before she had disappeared into the throng of people, his words dying on his tongue. Pipit leaned closer.

"So, are you here to get over it? Or are you with someone?"

"Just by myself," Link called back through the noise, barely able to hear himself. Not that he wanted to - he wasn't keen on this subject. At all.

"I'll be your wingman, don't worry." Pipit said, and winked again.

Link's eyes widened. "Oh no, I'm not here for anything like that-"

"Don't worry about it, it's normal! We're at uni now," he said, in a way that made Link almost worry for Karane, before she suddenly reappeared with a tray of plastic shot glasses.

"Stole it from the kitchen, drink up!" She said, and thrust a glass into Link's hand.

Link wasn't sure what made him not put the glass back, or what made him down it, or what made him take another one. He wasn't sure how many "another ones" he had after that, and the evening began to blur, like music from an orchestra blending together. He was vaguely aware of dancing, by himself, with people, stupid dances and dirty ones. He saw tight pants and purple eyeliner and lips, coming forward to meet his.

.

Link was rudely awakened by sunlight, intrusive and yellow and _burning_ , falling inconsiderately across his face and seeping through his eyelids. He couldn't wake up quickly enough to stop the burning from reaching his skull, where the sunlight sharpened and stabbed into the bone, past it and into his brain. He hissed in agony from his pounding head as he tried to open his eyes.

...The room he was in was definitely not his own room. The walls were faded, one strip of wallpaper just starting to curl out in the corner. The window was on the wrong side of the room, and the bed felt bigger-

There was someone else in the bed with him. Link's entire being froze, too scared to even breathe as he assessed the body next to him. They had soft features, eyes smeared with purple liner, and silky, silver hair that was definitely dyed, but Link could tell this wasn't a girl.

Because he'd seen this guy around before.

"No," Link whispered involuntarily, which made the other man stir. He watched in horror as his bedmate woke from a peaceful sleep, stretched, and then slowly opened his eyes.

The man smirked as he realised Link had been watching him, and sighed.

"Hel- _lo_ ," he said. Link was going to die.


	2. Chapter 2

Link knew what embarrassment felt like; he knew that it made him want to disappear and escape or pretend he wasn't there. He knew that shame had similar effects, and confusion could lead to mild panic, and that all of these feelings fell under the umbrella term of "stressed".

Which was a total understatement for how he felt in this moment.

The thing causing the stress was lying across from him in the unfamiliar double bed, silver-white hair splayed (somehow elegantly) over the second pillow, its eyes slowly brightening with consciousness and its lips curling into an amused grin.

"Stare any longer and I might just have to charge you." It - _the man_ \- said. Link could hear the amusement in his voice. It made him feel so tense that he felt like he'd turned to cheap, faux ivory, brittle enough to shatter under touch. He quickly cast his eyes down, unable to move anything else, and noticed he was shirtless.

The nausea began.

"Oh God," he said, involuntarily, so he clapped a hand over his mouth immediately after saying it. He couldn't raise his eyes anymore to look at his bedmate, so he looked to the floor where his clothes were. He fled to them, his only protection in an unfamiliar realm, noticing with little relief that at least his boxers were on and he wouldn't have to stand completely naked in front of this near stranger as he changed.

"Leaving so soon?" The man said in a disinterested tone, and Link looked up after putting his shirt on to see him stretching out and snuggling under the covers contentedly. He felt his cheeks flush. How could this guy be so nonchalant about this?

"Yeah," Link replied, the only thing he could manage to say voluntarily in the moment, and then grabbed his jacket and fled the bedroom.

The walk home was a nightmare. His head was pounding, a result of combining a hangover with the aforementioned stress, and was likely the reason he threw up in the bushes at the end of the street. Through all the chaos and internal screaming that he waded through inside his head, a name floated up to the surface: Ghirahim.

Ghirahim, yes, that was his name. He was a Drama student, second year, flamboyant and full of himself and was known to be the promiscuous type. Link had heard enough of his ramblings during the theatre group that met every Wednesday (and more recently, Saturdays as well) to know that this man slept with all kinds of people, and liked talking about it.

Link groaned, or half-sobbed, and rubbed a hand over his face. If this got out...

 _And_ he was going to have to see him later today, since he played for the club.

The job had opened up a few months ago, the Saturday extension being added only two weeks ago as Spring semester started and the cast wanted to rehearse more. It only required Link to read the provided music and play the piano at the right cues, and it even payed a little bit of money, so he couldn't complain. Either way, the reason he'd wanted the job in the first place was because it'd give him the keys to the department's piano - an old _Mason & Hamlin_ that was somehow still in brilliant condition. Link had never even thought about love at first sight until he saw that piano, and he knew he couldn't risk losing her now.

So skipping the club today was out of the question, if he didn't want to get in trouble. Link tried to reassure himself that, while he'd been unintentionally picking up little bits of information on the cast over the months, Ghirahim had never seemed to even consider that there was a human being behind the old piano, and as far as he was concerned the music just occurred by itself. So as long as Link didn't mess up his playing and draw attention to himself, he'd be safe.

.

"Link, could you put the stereo onto track 2 and start it on my signal?"

Link looked up from studying his newly-assigned sheet music at his name being spoken. The voice belonged to Keet, a third year that not only was the director of this production, but also possibly the least invested in it. He seemed to only be there to flirt with the female lead, Kina, a pretty girl with a sweet voice and always elaborately-styled black hair. Link could see the appeal in her, though couldn't come up with an honourable reason to give her one of the leading roles, since her acting was only so-so.

Still, Keet had bothered to learn Link's name, which was more than what most of the cast had done, so Link happily obliged and didn't think anything of it as he left his place at the piano and waited by the stereo.

He looked around the drama studio, at the stage lights falling onto the current scene's cast - Kina, and a guy called Groose who had attended the same high school as Link and Zelda. Groose was playing the Hero, a role in which he was clearly satisfied with.

The scene that had just started was part of the second act - where the Hero and his stolen love were finally reunited for a brief moment, before she disappeared again until it was safe. The ambience for this scene just wouldn't be right on a piano, so Link had to play sound technician and operate the stereo as well. He stood back after pressing the button and watched the scene unfold behind the rest of the cast who were standing by, until he noticed one head was turning away from the scene, its body following it. Link's heart stopped.

The person who had turned around, _towards_ him, was Ghirahim. Link quickly looked around for something to do, some reason for him to get away. He spotted a pile of CD cases and picked them up, and proceeded to walk purposefully away with them and behind the large, floor-length curtain that ran around three walls of the studio.

After getting under cover he felt his heart beating again, pounding in his chest, which caused his face to flush. He lowered his head until his forehead was resting on the top of the pile of plastic cases, and gave into the embarrassment that flooded him. He'd been seen. Was Ghirahim going to think he was a stalker, now?

"Do you always play for us?" A voice said behind him, and Link half-yelped from the shock. He whipped around to see Ghirahim, all tight pants and eyeliner and stereotypical scarf, leaning against the wall on one shoulder. "You're very good."

"...Thanks," Link managed, albeit awkwardly. Ghirahim didn't say anything else, just peered at Link through the dim behind the curtain, which made him shuffle uncomfortably. "Why are you back here?"

"I could say the same to you, lambkin." He said, and Link blanched. Ghirahim smirked. "You were very good _last night_ as well, by the way."

"Don't," Link snapped, and moved forward to squeeze past him, but Ghirahim held out a hand to block his way.

"I'm not trying to shame you, I'm interested."

Link stared up at him, eyes wide. _Really_?

"Well, I'm not," he said sharply. Because he wasn't. He knew Ghirahim slept around, and he didn't want to be with someone that casually (again). He didn't even remember if Ghirahim was _good_.

"You're really not?" The taller man said, tone of mock sadness and lips pushed into a pout.

Link's curiosity began to bubble over. "What exactly did we do... Last night?" He said, trying not to sound bothered. Ghirahim saw through his act and grinned.

"Well, after you'd made out with half of the sports students I had to pull you away or you would have gotten crushed! And then you just went down on me before I could even stop you," He recalled, and Link's mouth dropped open. Ghirahim nodded. "It's true. Right in front of everyone. You don't really seem like that type so I'd blame the alcohol; if you hadn't drank so much then you'd remember the threesome we had afterwards as well. She must have left before we woke up..." He trailed off, looking away thoughtfully. Link looked like he was going to vomit.

"Oh, I'm only teasing!" Ghirahim said, laughing.

Link shook his head. "... _What_?"

Ghirahim shook his silver hair out of his face and grinned. "I can't believe you fell for it, that was adorable!" He said, before pushing off the wall and putting a hand on his hip. "Nothing really happened. We kissed. We went upstairs. You went down on me and then we both must've passed out." His eyes roamed briefly -and incredibly unsubtly- over Link's form, "Huge letdown, really."

Link blushed bright red, and frowned, then pushed past and out of the curtains.

"The conscious parts were great, though!" Ghirahim called after Link, who could still hear the smile in his arrogant voice.

 **.**

 **My goal is to write as many SS characters into this as possible. It may ruin everything, but I don't care, because I'm incredibly excited for toilet hand.**

 **Also, in case you couldn't tell by my spelling, I'm English! I'm not sure how uni/college works over in the States but I know that it's unusual to do majors here; we typically just do the one course, so I'll just be writing what I know.**

 **I know this AU will have been done before, and I am just writing for fun, but any feedback would be appreciated! Thank you for reading:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my god, when did this get reviews?! Guest(s), you make me blush. Thank you so much for the lovely, encouraging comments. I'm so sorry I've kept you waiting, I hope you'll welcome me back with open arms!**

 **.**

Link wouldn't call himself a proud person. Ironically, he usually thought higher of himself because he rarely let his pride get in the way of things, which was how he got into music. While the other boys at school teased him for sticking with the piano as they spent their playtime outside, Link rode the waves of bullying until they gave up, too wrapped up in the sense of happiness and freedom that touching his hands to ivory keys gave him to feel embarrassed.

So he felt a little thrown as he opened his bedroom door, only just registering that he'd abandoned the drama club right in the middle of practice, because of pride.

He looked at his clock (an analogue clock shaped like a vinyl record, that Zelda had gotten him for his sixteenth birthday, he noted with a slight sting). It said the time was twenty-past-eight, and the club finished in just twenty-five minutes, so he thought against going back. He'd run into Keet at some point before Wednesday and apologise.

' _It wasn't your fault,_ ' said a niggling voice inside Link's head. ' _You were being harassed._ '

Link couldn't be sure that Ghirahim being decent enough to tell him what happened last night counted as harassment, but the whole encounter _had_ stressed him out. The voice argued against that point, and Link realised that _this_ was his pride - small and annoying and neglected, only just revealing itself after eighteen years of passivity.

Pride, that he recalled had made Groose bully him in early years of school and the reason Ghirahim was so arrogant. He didn't like pride.

And, he realised in that moment, pride had made him forget his sheet music.

Link cursed softly and arched off his bed, pushing his hands into his face. He breathed in deeply from exasperation, and decided he'd head back at nine o'clock, when everyone was gone.

.

The music sheet, headed with the title 'Nayru's Wisdom', was waiting patiently for Link as he entered the studio. He'd read it over earlier and liked the look of it, and smiled to himself at the thought of finally playing it. Since there was nobody to bother, now was a perfectly acceptable time to try it out, so rather than picking up the music, he sat down at the piano's stool and began to play.

The melody was simple, short and repetitive, but also calming, eerie and beautiful. Link decided a pedal harp accompaniment would go perfectly with this if it weren't for the lack of a budget in the production. His left hand moved in short bursts, his right hand playing in a steady rhythm, and he hadn't felt calmer in weeks as he thought about the music while he played.

"Back so soon?"

Link's hands automatically clamped down on the piano, exerting a loud crash of clashing notes that mimicked his surprise quite accurately. He glared over at the intruder of his peace, which was of course Ghirahim.

The man was leaning next to the studio's main door - _what was with him and leaning_? - looking smug that he'd caught Link in this state. Link wanted to snap back at him, but Pride was awake again and was holding his tongue.

Ghirahim didn't move, either. "How did you get in here? The door was locked."

Link wasn't sure how much he was obligated to say. "Keys." He answered eventually, and Ghirahim shrugged.

"Not like you're going to be able to steal anything valuable when making such a racket, anyhow."

Link's nostrils flared. "What do you want?"

Ghirahim paused, looked up at him properly, and then moved off the wall.

"I was just leaving and heard the piano being played. I'd wondered who had broken in."

"I didn't _break in_ ," Link said, grabbing his sheet music and starting to leave.

"Is this how we demonstrate maturity in university?" Ghirahim said quickly, as Link walked past him, which made him stop. He turned back to eye Ghirahim.

"What do you mean?"

"You're just so... cold!" Ghirahim said. He shivered to add to the mockingly upset tone. "You're freezing!"

Link's brows lowered into a frown. "What did you expect?"

"Well, it's not like I've done anything incriminating." Ghirahim scoffed. " _You_ came onto _me_ , you know."

"And you don't need to remind me of it," Link growled. Ghirahim didn't add anything, just returned his withering look, so Link left and hoped that Ghirahim would lock up after him.

.

"This is good, Link," Horwell said, taking off his headphones and pausing the music. Link smiled tentatively at his course leader's praise, relieved that his composition was good. He'd felt so clogged up recently that new music was so hard to come by. He still loved playing, obviously, but creating was exhausting and strenuous and he felt like he hadn't been doing so well-

"You could do _so_ much better, though."

Link blinked, and rounded on his course leader. "What?"

Horwell looked apologetic. "We're in the second semester now. Your work is good, Link, it's always good - but do you remember the stuff in your portfolio? The emotion and detail in those pieces were _so_ appealing... This just feels like a complicated piece to compensate for how flat the feelings in it are."

Link's heart sank, his cheeks glowing pink. He lowered his head.

"I can't just pull inspiration from nowhere," he said, trying to hide the irritation and slight hurt that he felt in his throat.

"I know, I know," Horwell said, raising his hands apologetically. "Just letting you know." He got up and walked away, already moving on to assess other works.

Link sighed and rested his chin on his hand, staring at the notation programme still open on his computer. He couldn't see what was wrong with his composition, but maybe that was just because he wasn't at the top of his game right now. His eyes strayed to look over the other students, until they found someone who had been staring back at him.

Link tried to skip his gaze over her to avoid the awkward eye contact, but he'd already registered that her large blue eyes were fixed on him, still unmoving as he made his way around the rest of the room, so he eventually looked over at her.

She wasn't unfamiliar, Link had noticed her in his classes before - hard not to, with bright blue hair - but he'd never spoken to her before. She seemed to keep to herself, just like Link had done for most of the time... So why was she staring at him now?


End file.
